Shobha Ramswamy

It started with rotis and laundry services before progressing to bracelets and alarm clocks. Titan's community workforce, comprising mostly women, are the harbingers of a timely revolution

In the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, in a modest bungalow surrounded by freshly tilled fields and mud houses, a quiet revolution is gathering force. Inside, to the rhythmic whirring of machines, some 60 pairs of hands are nimbly inserting minute discs into dials, creating bracelets from shiny metallic links, meticulously checking quality and gently bubble wrapping each product into cardboard boxes. Amid quick repartee and laughs, work happens at a frenzied pace. The production scoreboard displays statistics that belie the rural setting of this organisation, which goes by the name Management of Enterprise and Development of Women, or Meadow.

Krishnagiri and its surrounding areas are infamous for their alarming rate of female infanticide. Typically, girls are denied higher education, married by the time they are in their early teens and employed as farm labour. The social order is skewed in favour of the male. "Not any more," says K. P. Anandan, the chief executive officer of Meadow, which has injected doses of female empowerment into this society. "Now girls are appreciated and gender discrimination is on the retreat."

Cut to 1990, when the Mysore Rural Area Development Agency (Myrada), an NGO which works with underprivileged women, started exploring work opportunities with the 400 industrial units established around this region. The idea was to better the standard of living through the creation of alternative livelihoods in a largely farm-based economy. Titan was the first to respond positively, with a contract to deliver rotis for its canteen. Subsequently, the group was asked to provide laundry services.

In 1995, the company decided to outsource the assembling of metal watchstraps (bracelets). As the job involved no handling of heavy equipment and minimum qualifications, Titan chose to experiment with Myrada. It screened motivated girls coming from underprivileged backgrounds with sharp eyesight, supple fingers and the endurance required for repetitive tasks.

The project was flagged off with just 24 women working in three task groups. Titan not only trained them in the assembly of links, but also in simple managerial functions such as planning production targets and accountancy. "Right from the beginning we never regarded it as a philanthropic activity," says Manoj Chakravarti, general manager, corporate affairs and head of social responsibility at Titan. "They had to maintain quality and delivery schedules, just like any other vendor." Soon the relationship became sustainable and extended to polishing watch bracelets, braiding wires for the jewellery division and assembling table clocks.

As the group kept expanding and becoming more professional, Myrada and Titan were keen to spin it off as an independent organisation. The women of Meadow became owner-managers of their own enterprise, attending to every aspect, including the operation of bank accounts. It was no mean feat, considering many had never even stepped into a bank before.

Today the 200-strong women's team directly negotiates with Titan in the annual revision of piece rates, handles all purchases, controls the movement of its vehicles, draws up work schedules, calculates payments, follows up on receivables, and does the base work for meeting all statutory requirements. Says V. Saraswathi, a worker as well as one of Meadow's directors, "I have changed as a person and gained prominence in society. My colleagues and me have developed the confidence to talk to and deal with outsiders."

The women earn around Rs 3,000 per month. Profits are shared equally among the 200 employees, with a significant amount going to a corpus fund that provides for the internal expenses as well as welfare activities. As women have become important wage earners, their social status within their families and communities has changed dramatically. Unlike in the past, they are now consulted on all decisions. Many are discharging numerous family obligations, such as paying off debts, educating siblings, meeting medical expenses, acquiring assets and building up savings. Their average age at marriage is up and graduation a norm.

Meanwhile, back in the workshop, young and pretty Yashoda beams as she finishes her work quota for the hour. Her satisfaction comes not from charity but a job well done.

Uploaded in March 2005